Snoke's Pawn
by Acrynie
Summary: After the destruction of Star Killer Base the Rebels are joined by Luke Skywalker and Rey. They will have to get ready for a new battle as news reaches them that Snoke and his Knights of Ren have a new weapon waiting to crush them. But they will get help from an old enemy.
[This fanfiction takes place after the events in Star Wars VII The Force Awakens, after Rey started training with Luke Skywalker, whom she brought back to Leïa Organa. I do not own the rights to any of the characters, story or places, except my OC. Hope you enjoy this fanfic. ]

Snoke's Pawn

Leïa looked eagerly at the scouts. They still wore the pilot's orange and carried their helmets under their arm. The scout leader, a portly woman with a deeply dark skin advanced in the middle of the circular room. All eyes locked on her.

"The First Oder is weakened but they are licking their wounds." her voice rang through the room. "They lost a great number of men and it'll take them time to replenish their forces. They virtually have no mean to rebuild Star Killer Base for the time being. But it appears that they changed their tactic. They are now going for a gerilla warfare. They hired mercenaries all over the cloud's border, they take down Republican fraternities one by one. They are now discrete but fast and hard to track down. This is the good news."

A sight blew through the room. Rey felt Leïa tense by her side and saw Finn's knuckles whiten as he closed his fist against his knee. Luke did not look at her when she raised her eyes towards him.

The scout leader spoke again, this time her voice droped.

"We ran into... well... what claimed Harry's life."

The scouts bowed their heads respectfully in the memory of their fallen friend.

"We saw the Knights of Ren, along with a bunch of mercenaries. But they are not alone. They have a new weapon. Not a planet destroyer but a terrible asset on the battle field. That weapon was capable of crushing Harry's X-wing in flight. It used some technology I am not familiar with. But we managed to identify its code name. It is not much, for we could not get its plan or design, but the code name is still something. It is called Shan Snoke."

Luke and Leïa gasped and looked at each other in alarm. Everyone stared at them, not understanding their surprise. Leïa's hand trembled as she raised it to her mouth.

"What's wrong General?" Rey asked, putting a reasuring hand on her shoulder.

Luke stepped forth, pale. His voice creaked as he spoke.

"This is not a weapon or a robot. Shan Snoke is the name of a girl."

People stared, astonished, holding their breath. The scout leader was taken abback. Luke turned to her.

"Shan Snoke is a Force wielder. She used to be one of my padawans. An orphan I found on Naboo, she showed great potential. But she was abducted by Snoke as a child, before I could properly begin her training. She served as a subject of experiments for Snoke. He wanted to create a Force wielder more powerful than any naturally gifted Jedi or Sith. But she has become a dangerous weapon. She is at the mercy of her emotions, she can loose control at any moment. This tells us one important thing: they are desperate. She could easily destroy them as well as us. You say she was with the Knights of Ren?"

"Yes, we lost Harry the moment we encountered the Knights."

Luke closed his eyes in distress. His hand slightly trembled.

"I don't understand." Rey asked "Why did they not use her before?"

This time, Leïa spoke.

"Snoke sent her to the Knights some years ago. To place her under their protection, so that no one would try to use her. But he also knew how dangerous she could be for him. He did not want to sit too close to the fire he had lighted. She was also entrusted to them on the same year Ben... Kylo Ren became master of the Knights." her eyes filled with tears. "He never agreed to her being used under any circumstances. She was his protégée. This means... if she is being used now... it means he is truly dead."

She collapsed into a chair, her face burried in her hands. She had had a tiny hope that he might still be alive, that he might have escaped from Star Killer Base. The truth of her son's death hit her with all the strength of grief.

Rey stepped towards the scout leader.

"Do you have any other information?" she asked.

"No, report done. The reunion can close." she answered understandingly. She bowed to the General and went away, as did everyone else. Chewbaca remained seated silently in a corner, looking at Leïa with mysteriously clouded eyes. Luke stooped to take his sister in his arms, whispering words of comfort.

Away from them, Finn had an exchange with his friends

"Can't do anything against a mother's love I guess." he snarled under his breath.

"After all this bastard's done she still mourns his loss." Poe added in a disgusted tone. "I respect the General but she should realise her little boy was a psychotic killer."

"Yes, WAS." Fin grinned.

"Oh, shut it you two!" Rey finaly barked. "Now is not realy the time. Go outside if you want to say stuff like this."

"No." Leïa breathed. "They are not wrong. Let them stay. We need... we need to elaborate a plan about... well... the new situation."

"We will do that." Luke said. "But you are going to go rest for a bit. You endured too much in too little time."

"I'm fine! Don't patronise me."

"You can't think straight. You need to rest."

Leïa looked intensely at her brother, then sighed.

"Fine. But I won't be able to fall asleep without help. My head is too full."

Luke nodded and waved a hand in front of her eyes and her head rolled to the side as her eyes closed and her breath became slow and regular.

Luke rose and considered Rey, Poe and Finn. The young ones looked at him eagerly.

"So what do we do?" Finn asked.

"We go get Shan." Luke simply answered.

"What? She'll crush us!" Poe gasped.

"Not with Rey and I, she won't." Luke smiled. He nodded towards his padawan. "Get the Falcon ready, we fly now."

The Millenium Falcon was dashing through space at light speed, flying through the stars towards the planet on which the Knights of Ren were still stationned.

There they were, ransacking a temple on an agrary planet.

Rekka Ren, also called The Beast, the new master of the Knights of Ren was sitting on the steps of the temple, torturing a villager with Force tricks. The man was shrieking in pain as Rekka rummaged through his brain effortlessly. By his side, the two Knights of Ren he had brought with him were keeping watch while the mercenaries of the First Order were ransacking the temple and butchering the people they could find. Rekka grinned as the man's eyes became red, swollen with blood. But his smile vanished when he heard a small voice issuing from a tiny shape next to him.

"Why are you still doing this?" the voice asked. "He told you everything."

"I'm bored." Rekka answered, his voice magnified by his colossal helmet. "And you should keep your mouth shut, you don't want me to get angry at you."

Lying on the steps, her arms locked together by metal chains, Shan Snoke spat blood. She could not feel her legs, her breath was weak, her sight blurry and her ears full of the man's agony. The noise was banging against the walls of her feverish skull. Even if she had wanted to, she could not have moved a muscle. She wanted only one thing, to fall asleep. Her heart was hurting with every beat in her chest. Tears of exhaustion were prickling her eyes. But she could not sleep. Because of the screams, because of her heart pounding, because of her inhumane thirst, her skin burning, her hands bleeding, her lungs aching, her eyes wheezing...

Rekka had asked too much of her. The Force was tearing her appart. She was broken.

"Kylo, would never have done this." she managed to whisper as the pain was making her loose her head.

"Kylo is dead." Rekka snapped, embracing every word lovingly. "The incompetent fool burned away on Star Killer Base along with his shame. I..."

His sentence was brought to an abrupt stop by a shock that blew him to the ground, making his head bang inside his helmet. Shan's hands were closing again, letting the Force wear off, her blue eyes locked on him.

Rekka, gathered himself, grabbed her chains and pulled her harsly to him, her body dragged across the stone stepps. His masked face was inches from hers when her features deepened with rage as she shouted with what was left of her lungs. Her body was pain, pain, burning, madening, infuriating pain.

"You're worth nothing Rekka! You are the shame of Ren. Kylo was the one who got your order out of the shadows. Without him you would still be nothing more than the remnants of a fallen Empire, lurking in the dark like dogs."

Rekka's grinn widened under his mask and he laughed a dirty greasy laugh. He pointed his hand above Shan and... squeezed. She started to gasp for air and raised her tied hands to her throat, her eyes opened wide in terror.

"So it is true." Rekka smirked. "What they say about you and Kylo. He was soft. Too soft to be our master. He thought you were irreplacable. Why do you think Supreme Leader Snoke gave us his approval to use you now?"

He released his hold slightly, but not quite enough to let her breath properly. Shan's eyebrows raised in surprise. Rekka laughed again.

"You are a failed experiment, Shan. Supreme Leader Snoke has found another child way more powerful than you. You are but an expired item to be used until a better replacement comes along."

A red spark of pure hatred shone in Shan's eye. Rekka did not see it coming. A streak of lightning hit him square in the chest and he fell to the ground, releasing his grip on Shan's throat.

She rolled to the side coughing. Her skin was hot and prickly, she had used her last spark of energy. Her exhaustion was complete. It would take her time before she could use the Force again.

Rekka got to his feet, swearing loudly and before his men could stop him, shot a strong kick into Shan's face, breaking her nose and cheek bone.

"When we no longer need you." Rekka breathed. "I'll have fun with what will remain of you. Kylo won't recognise you in the afterlife."

Shan said nothing, but spat on his boot. Before the master could move again, a knight stepped forward.

"She had her fill." he said. "We should let her rest until she regains her strength otherwise she'll be drained when we'll need her."

Rekka nodded angrily. He took out his lightsaber and shoved the blade into the back of the man he had been torturing. Then he took it out and stabbed again, and again, and again, until he stumbled backwards breathing hard.

"I need to talk to Hux." he barked. "We need to move."

Crouching under the cover of large leaves on top of a small hill facing the temple, Rey and her friends lay breathing silently, watching. She could feel rage climbing onto her spine, unable to keep her eyes off the girl lying on the steps of the temple.

"She is their slave." she muttered under her breath.

"It was not always so." Luke answered. "She used to be a prisonner in a golden cage. But with Kylo gone, her incarceration took a nasty turn.

"You think she'll come with us willingly?"

"I hope. Yes... she might."

Luke's eyes were clouded, he seemed lost in thoughts, somewhere between sadness and anger. He sudenly turned to Rey and the others, fixing his gaze intensely into theirs.

"You have to remember one thing." he said. "Snoke made sure she would be raised in utter ignorance of the Dark and Light sides of the Force. For her there is only the Force. She does not know about the fight between the First Order and the Republic. Remember, she is a victim, not an enemy. She's a lost child... who suffers more than you can imagnine."

"Yeah we'll be nice to her." Finn said. "But we'll kick the knights' butts."

"That goes without saying." Luke smiled.

They split-up, spread across the hill, circling the temple under the cover of the canopy and took their positions. Rekka in talk with his two knights was at the top of the high stairs; three mercenaries were a the bottom of the steps gathering their loot into containers; four others were out of sight, inside the temple. Shan was left near the mutilated corpse of the villager in the middle of the stairs.

She was spitting blood that ran from her nose into her throat. Coagulated blood adorned her face and stained the bottom of her nose. She could have been pretty, she was tall and slim with long legs. Her features were elegant, her almond shaped eyes were a deep shade of blue and her grey eyebrows formed long, graceful archs above them. But her heavy black lidds bore on this beautiful gaze, under those eyes dark marks stretched towards her cheeks. Her lips were full and well drawn but their sickly blue colour gave them the look of death. Black veins ran all over her livid, bluish, skin. Yellow bruises bloomed on her forehead and chin. If she had not been breathing so heavily, Rey could have sworn she was long dead. Her corpse-like aspect was magnified by her unnaturaly white hair streaming down to her waist, spreading around her head like a death-veil.

Rey was pulled out of her observations when Luke's voice rang in her ear-piece.

"We attack on my command."

"Roger." they all answered, except for Chewbaca who roared quietly.

The tension rose. Poe, Finn and Chewie were to be the first wave, to occupy the mercenaries at the bottom of the steps. Rey and Luke were to speed up the stairs to reach Shan as quickly as possible. This was a mad plan but the element of surprise could work to their advantage. Two Jedis against three Knights of Ren, the odds could be in their favor.

"Let's wait." Poe indicated. "They are too spread, we need them to gather down there, cut their retreat."

"Roger."

But as they agreed to this, Rey clung to her lightsaber, gritting her teeth angrily. Shan had risen to her feet when a knight had pulled her up. Her knees were shaking but she had an evil smile on her face. The knight was pulling her to Rekka to prepare for their departure. Her mouth had filled with blood and when she got within range of the master of the Knights, a jet of red flew through the air and hit Rekka's face. The mixture of saliva, blood and mucus covered his mask. Shan laughed madly, but stopped quickly when Rekka slapped her so hard she almost collapsed. But she found her footing easily and stood there, gargling and laughing her sickly laughter.

"Stop that." the knight who held her said. "You're not making it easier for yourself."

"It's satisfying." Shan replied, rocking to and fro like a drunkard. "At this rate I'll be dead in only a few days. So why not do whatever I want, heh? I always wanted to spit at Rekka's fat face."

"Good point." Rekka said in an alarmingly nice tone. He brushed away the spit on his mask and then wiped his hand clean onto Shan's hair, making it a pinkish red.

He bowed so as to get his eyes at the same level as hers.

"Hux has nothing for us now." he said. "Which means we have time on our hands. You are right Shan. You'll be a gonner soon, and there is something I too always wanted to do to you."

His arms suddenly closed around her waist, taking her breath away. He was squeezing so hard her ribs were on the verge of cracking and her skin instantly bruised. He turned on his heels, still holding her and started towards the temple. Understanding what was coming to her, Shan tried to kick and scream but he squeezed harder and she was reduced to silence.

On the hill Rey pressed the button of her ear piece so hard it almost broke.

"We have to intervein NOW!"

"Okay, first wave, GO!"

But before anyone could so much as raise above the leaves, a crashing noise issued from the bottom of the hill. The red ray of a blaster shot darted across the steps and lodged itself into Rekka's back. The knight let out a scream and collapsed, releasing Shan from his hold.

Suddenly two red lightsabers burst into life at the top of the steps and blasters were pulled out in a frenzy.

A second blaster shot hit a mercenary in the face, striking him dead. A horrible yell echoed from the bottom of the hill where another hired man had ran to try to get the sniper. There was the sound of a shot and a dark figure emerged from the vegetation, long riffle blaster in hand. He was now rushing towards the steps.

"We go now!" Poe shouted.

All tactics abandonned, they all ran down the hill weapons in hand to help their unexpected ally. He was way ahead of them but Poe and Finn managed to cover him with their blasters. Chewie pushed two mercenaries under cover with a blast from his crosss-bow sending debris flying in every direction.

"This way!" Rey pointed at the right side of the stairs that was less guarded. Luke ran in her wake, blue lightsaber in hand.

A man armed with an electric whip fell upon them and pushed Rey back. His strength took her abback and Luke came to the rescue, but the man managed to hit him in the leg and Luke tripped to the side. The enemy was about to deliver a killing blow when a short range blaster shot pierced his stomach. As his body fell to the ground it unveiled the one who had struck him down.

A long red scar streaked across his pale face, his black hair touching his shoulders, black robes in rags, Kylo Ren stood face to face with Luke Skywalker.

For a split second Rey and Luke thought they were dreaming, but their eyes were not lying, their enemy was alive.

Their astonishment was drawn to a quick close as two mercenaries attacked. Kylo engaged one of them fiercely and so did Rey. Luke used the force to send boulders flying towards those who were advancing on Finn, Poe and Chewbaca.

The battle raged but soon, the count of deaths dropped. The two remaining knights and their mercenaries had organised and were closing the access to the temple, forcing their attackers down.

"We must pierce their deffense!" Rey yelled to cover the noise of the blasters.

"Let's engage them before they use Shan. If they manage to canalise her Force again we're dead." Luke shouted back.

From the corner of her eye, Rey saw Kylo in the distance. She had not seen this at first but his wide back was loaded with half a dozen heavy blasters and ammo. He was firing laser after laser at the knights but the shots that were not Force stopped by the Siths crashed into the stones under which they were taking refuge.

They seemed stuck in this struggle, but all of a sudden, the shots stoped. An eerie silence fell on the stairs to the temple as they rose their eyes to see Rekka get back on his feet. He was coughing and staggering but still very much alive. And he held Shan enchained by his side. He had put an odd collar on her neck. This was a cataliser, so that her Force would only be directed towards where he wanted. Breaking the silence, he called.

"Surrender or she'll crush you like twigs!"

Rey and Luke looked at one another but a voice more ferocious than what they had ever heard vibrated across the stairs.

"Let her go now!" roared Kylo, clutching his riffle.

Rekka let out an odd noise, he had not seen Kylo Ren. Shan twitched, she raised her blurry eyes and seemed to come out of a deep slumber.

"Kylo?" she muttered.

"No!" Rekka screamed.

He pressed his hand against Shan's skull and her collar shone brightly as she shrieked in pain. Streaks of lightning ran all around her and struck near where Kylo stood in an unruly shock wave.

At this moment, Kylo's blood boiled. Shan was writhing in agony, trying to fight Rekka's Force control. In the blink of an eye he darted up the stairs, shooting down those who tried to block him with all the strength of despair. Shan's canalised Force-rays missed him by inches. He jumped on the last step and in a thunderous blow struck a knight down and took his lightsaber. Now fully armed, he engaged the last able knight. In a few attacks he had broken his opponent's saber and tossed him across the air, sending him into the hill in front of the temple.

Then, Kylo turned to Rekka who was still trying to use Shan. For a second, he got close enough to touch him but he was pushed back violently by Shan's Force ray.

"No!" she screamed. "I won't do this!"

But Rekka still had some strength left. He punched her in the stomach so hard she threw up. He knew that if she was disoriented he could still use her. A streak of lightning hit Kylo in the chest and he fell again.

Rekka needed to make her loose her mind with pain. He took out a dagger from his boot, took hold of her left hand and plunged the blade in her palm. After shaking the dagger in the wound, he placed his hand on her collar and regained control of her Force.

This time Kylo's body rose above the ground, arms outstretched and it started to move like a puppet. It hit the wall in a mighty bang and fell to the ground again. His whole body was imprisonned, fixed to the ground as if by a ton of rocks.

"Choke him!" Rekka ordered.

Shan was somewhere between the eigth and ninth circle of Hell. "Choke him now!" she heard. If anyone else had been there in front of her she would have obeyed. But it was Kylo. A mad joy burst through her, gave her the strength she needed. He was not dead. She would not die either.

"Go on! Kill him Shan!" Rekka was yelling.

The master of the Knights of Ren thought he had won. But when he looked at Shan again he saw that he had been horribly wrong. Maybe that was why he screamed so loud?

The Force works in various ways. At this moment Rekka wished he could have died some other way.

Shan's eyes suddenly shone yellow and were directed at his stomach. At once, he felt his insides twirl and worse, burn. He sarted choking, vomiting blood in his helmet. The pressure in his head made him loose all sense of reality. The kiss of Death was long, fiery and horrible.

Meanwhile, Kylo was freed from Shan's Force. He got up with difficulty but when he got hold of his lightsaber, his strength came back to him. Fast as lightning, he rushed to Rekka, cut off the arm that held Shan and threw the master of the knights against a wall.

Rey and Finn rushed up as well after having dispatched the mercenaries. When they reached the top of the stairs they grabbed Shan and dragged her under the cover of a statue.

In the temple's doorway, Kylo towered over Rekka who was kneeling in front of him. The former master of the Knights of Ren put away the usurped saber and locked his hands around the new master's helmet. A horrid noise issued from the knight when Kylo tore off the helmet, mask and breathing system in one swift pull. Rekka's real face appeared, deeply scared, his teeth ripped away along with the breathing system. The blood he had vomited ran all over his front. He raised his one good eye on the black shape that was Kylo Ren. He tried to lift his hand but the implacable executionner kicked it so hard his upper arm broke at once.

Kylo trapped Rekka's face into his hand and made him look into his mad eyes. His bared teeth glistened when he ignited his lightsaber again.

"You should never have touched her." he growled.

Then, in a mighty crash, he plunged the lightsaber's blade into Rekka's mouth. The flaming blade burned his lips, throat, lungs and insides in a second. Kylo left the blade in, to burn his enemy until his eyes rolled back in their socketts. He wanted to taste his death and not miss a single drop of it.

The body fell lumply on the ground when Kylo pulled the blade out. The horribly disfigured face of the one who called himself The Beast, was outstreched towards the darkening sky.

Rey nearly threw up, she felt her stomach boil. Her own lightsaber was still ignited and she held it between Kylo and Shan. She felt a terrible streak of fear creep inside her as Kylo advanced towards her.

"Stop!" Finn ordered, pointing his blaster at Kylo's head.

Poe directed his weapon at him too, along with Chewbaca. But Kylo did not even seem to acknowledge their presence. He simply walked towards Rey but he was not looking at her.

The sound of clicking chains made Rey look at Shan, she was trying to make her lower her saber. Her lips formed the word "please" but she had no breath left to utter it. Rey did not know what to do.

When she looked back up, she saw that Kylo had stopped before her, he was looking at her lightsaber, Shan was still tugging at her arm, the perforated hand staining Rey's robes. So, without turning her weapon off, she got up and stepped back.

"Don't try anything." she said, pointing her saber at him.

He just darted a glance at her that felt like an icy slap, but he was moving slowly now, he had dropped his weapon and he was surrounded. He just bowed down and placed a hand on the chains restraining Shan, the lock snapped under his fingers, then he picked her up as gently as one picks up an infant. Although she was a lean tall girl, she looked quite petite in his arms. She put her head onto his shoulder.

Rey was quietly digesting this.

Luke appeared at the top of the steps, limping, his injured leg looking quite burnt. His eyes met the circle of weapons around Kylo holding Shan and he raised his hand in front of him.

"You are outnumbered." he said. "Please don't make us hurt you."

"Or please DO, I wouldn't mind trying my gun on you." Poe snarled.

"No, Poe be quiet." Luke snapped. "Whatever happens, Kylo, Shan is coming with us. We will hide her. I can even try to train her to control the Force properly."

The Sith remained eerily silent, watching Luke closely. His grip tightened on Shan's limp body. His eyes were just two slits now.

"I don't want to fight." Luke pleaded. "You know I would never do anything against Shan, she was my padawan."

"And you could not keep her." Kylo answered through gritted teeth.

"Snoke took her from me even more violently than when he took you away. Ben... please."

For a moment, it felt like fire was going to burst from every weapon in man's hand. But after a few seconds of agonising silence, Shan's voice rose. They heard her whisper faintly.

"Master Luke... master... please. Let's go home."

Kylo stared at the bruised face that rested on his chest. She raised a glistening eye to him.

"Please." she repeated. "Let's go home."

The Falcon was in light speed again heading back to Head Quarters. Rey had left the cockpit to Poe and Chewbaca and was programing the medical droid she had installed in an unused storage room that now served as an infirmary. Shan lay on a matt on the floor, she was sleeping soundly, like a child. Even though she had tried to keep him away, Rey had had to let Kylo into the room.

Poe and Finn had tried to handcuff him in a storage room at the other end of the ship but as soon as they had closed the door he had broken his restraints, destroyed the door and had strided back to where Shan was.

Rey shot a glance at him. Her hand was never too far from her lightsaber.

"She's not going to fly away you know." she muttered.

"I prefer not to take my chances." he replied in a strangely calm voice.

The medical droid was finally ready to get to work and it emmited a little bip. It turned its round head towards Rey, fixing its eye on her. She pointed a finger at Shan and the droid oddly gasped and started beeping madly. Its multiple hands started gently pressing and moving Shan's body. Antibacterial spray rained on her as the needle sewed the skin back together. The brush and pinces took debris away and bandages were applied everywhere.

"He says it's gonna take a while, but he thinks she is not in danger." Rey translated as the droïd beeped frenetically.

Kylo did not answer, he merely fixed his black eyes on her. She braced herself.

"I won't leave you alone by the way, there will always be someone watching you." she said.

"Suits me just as long as you don't try to snap Shan away from me." he answered in a dark defiant tone.

Rey's eye twitched in irritation. She crossed her arms so as not to do anything rash.

"You're not entitled to give me the smallest order." she said, her voice low and sombre. "Not after all you've done to us. For now I am allowing you to stay with her for HER sake."

She pointed a finger at Shan. She was sincere, she had seen the glimmer in Shan's eyes when she had seen Kylo. She knew how the girl felt and could not resolve to take this away from her.

"Stop bragging." Kylo retorted. "You couldn't lock me up. Don't lie to yourself."

"Do not test me. Maybe the guys could not keep you steady but I certainly can. You have leave for now but when we reach Head Quarters, I won't be so soft with you. You'll pay for what you did to Han Solo. Mark my words."

Her head was hurting her, she leaned back against a wall opposite to Kylo, eyeing him angrily, she fell into a severe muteness.

And so the Falcon flew on, with Rey and Kylo locked into a silent struggle. Their purgatory-like experience ended when Shan opened her eyes. She took a deep breath and coughed.

"It's okay." Rey told her in a hurry. "I'll go get master Luke. It's okay you're safe."

Shan gave Rey a grateful nodd, a faint smile showed on her blue lips. Rey left the room after tossing one last electric glance at Kylo who responded by the same sort of hateful look.

Shan's bandadged hand rose to his face and he turned to her again. Healthy colours had started to come back in her cheeks, she looked a lot less dead. Her eyes were glistening with tears.

"Of course you're not dead." she said in a weak but happy voice. "You couldn't be dead."

"I am sorry I kept you waiting." he answered, taking her head in his arm. "I should have come for you earlier. With all Rekka did..."

"Shh... You're here now. Rekka's dead and you're alive. That's all I could wish for."

She put her arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could, feeling his heart-beat against hers. Relief. No more pain.

She smiled against his cheek.

"Tell me." her childlike, lively voice was coming back, Kylo could hear it. "I was out when it happened but I want to know. Did Rekka suffer?"

"He died crying, don't worry."

"Were you the one to do it?"

"He was my prey, I would have left no one else finish him."

"If I had been strong enough I'd have done it. You would have allowed me, you're a gentleman."

They both laughed without control. Kylo ran his fingers on the beloved face. He had her again, his little bloodthirsty demon. She did not understand who, why or what. But she understood how honor worked. Rekka had trampled their honnor, his death was their pride and victory.

She kissed him the way she always did, furiously, hungrily. Kylo would have gone further was it not for the noises in the corridor growing closer. He broke their embrace but did not let go completely.

"Luke Skywalker is coming." he said, sitting back on the bench near the matt.

Shan smiled and closed her eyes.

"Finally" she breathed. "I couldn't wait to go home."


End file.
